World Regional Geography

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Exam 2 -- Sample Exam Questions
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Chapters in this unit:

For each realm:

Keep these in mind as you read and study EACH REALM (chapter).

1. Defining a Realm: Know the physical, cultural, economic, and/or historical criteria (characteristics) used to define the realm.
NOTE: THIS WILL BE ON EACH UNIT EXAM. BE ABLE TO DO THIS!
  • Why are the boundaries drawn where they are?
    • Are there any physical barriers (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests) at the realm border?
    • Are there physical, cultural, economic, and historical differences on either side of the realm boundary?
    • Do the realm boundaries tend to run through areas of sparse population?
  • How do the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics of the realm differ from these characteristics of neighboring realms?

 

 

  • Here are SOME of the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics that you should consider
    • physical geography
      • landscapes
      • climate
      • major features
      • physical barriers at the realm boundaries like oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, rain forests, etc.
    • cultural geography
      • religion
      • language
      • politics
      • other
    • economic geography
      • level of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41)
      • % labor in primary activities
      • % urbanization
      • other measures of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41)
    • historical Geography
      • culture hearths
      • colonization - who colonized
      • other

 

2. Know where most people live in the realm. What PHYSICAL CRITERIA helps explain where most people in the world live (we discussed five in our online lectures)? Assess how well the 5 reasons explain the population distribution. Do they apply to this realm or not? Describe where most people in the realm live Do not say "in the cities". In which general areas are the cities located?

Apply the "5 reasons" we discussed in our online lectures to the distribution of population in this realm. Do they help us to understand the population distribution in the realm or are there exceptions to the "5 reasons"?

 

3. Know the CONCEPTS, IDEAS, and TERMS listed on the first page of each chapter AND the italicized words within the chapter. ALSO, know EXAMPLES of the terms from the realm being studies. It is strongly suggested that you make a list of these terms with their definitions and examples. Each unit exam will have a question where you DEFINE and GIVE EXAMPLES of these terms.

The textbook website has a webpage that will help you learn the definitions of some of these words. See:
http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=resource&bcsId=2733&itemId=047171786X&resourceId=6921

NOTE: THIS WILL BE ON EACH UNIT EXAM. BE ABLE TO DO THIS!

 

4. You must understand map SCALE. Know the difference between a large scale map and a small scale map. Each unit exam will have a question about map scale. See Figure G-3. page 8, of the textbook and read the paragraph on page 7.

5. Where in the realm has there been wars or conflicts including international wars, civil wars, guerrilla wars, and cultural conflicts. It is suggested tat you make a list of the conflicts in each realm including "who was fighting whom".

6. It would be useful to review the map quiz locations for each realm.

7. Know the general level of development of the realm .

8. Have a good idea of the primary religions in the various countries in these realms

9. Have a good idea of the primary colonial powers in the various countries in these realms.

10. Be able to draw the realm borders on a blank outline map.

CONFLICTS

For he following conflicts know:

Chapter 7: North Africa and Southwest Asia

1. The name "North Africa and Southwest Asia" is rather cumbersome. Why is it still a better name for the realm than the following?
  • the "Dry Realm"
  • The "Arab Realm"
  • the "Islamic Realm", or
  • the "Middle East"

2.  North Africa and Southwest Asia has been, and still is, an area of many cultural conflicts. Why? What are some of the divisive (centrifugal) forces in the realm?

  • Sunni / Shi'ite split
  • religious revivalism
  • Islam and other religions
  • the Ottoman aftermath

3. Know WHERE in the realm the majority of the population practices Shia (Shi'ite)Islam and WHERE most practice SUNNI Islam.

4. Where are the three main area of oil reserves in North Africa and Southwest Asia? (Be able to locate on a map ) List some of the effects that oil production has had on the realm.

  • high incomes
  • modernization
  • industrialization
  • intra-realm migration (within the realm)
  • inter-realm migration (between different realm)
  • regional disparities
  • foreign investment

5. Study figure 7-14 on page 358 of the textbook and be able to locate the following:

  • The UN's 1948 plan for Israel (the orange color only)
  • Territory occupied by Israel after independence in 1949 (orange AND brown color)
  • Territory occupied by Israel after the 1967 "Six-Day" war (Orange, brown, AND yellow - Gaza Strip, West Bank, and the Golan Heights)

6. Identify, locate, and discuss the two ancient culture hearths found in the realm. Remember, geographers study WHERE and WHY THERE?

7. What are the "Five Pillars" of Islam?

8. Use the spatial diffusion of the Arab-Islamic Empire to explain the following

  • Expansion Diffusion
    • contagious diffusion
    • hierarchical diffusion
  • Relocation Diffusion

9. Where are the Islamic parts of Europe?

10. What were the "Crusades"?

11. What is the Maghreb?

12. Where in the North Africa and Southwest Asia realm do they downhill ski on snow?
[See: http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/geg101blended/gegskiing.htm]

13. According to our textbook, what is the "Middle East"?

14. IRAQ

  • What are the major three cultural groups of Iraq?
  • Which part of Iraq do the three main cultural groups occupy?
  • Who is fighting whom and why?

15. What are the "Empire States"?

16. What language do they speak in Iran, Turkey, North Africa?, the Middle East?

17. What is Turkestan?

18. Who is fighting whom in Afghanistan? What are the Taliban?

 

Chapter 8 - South Asia

1. South Asia is described as a "physically well defined realm". On an outline map LABEL the physical features along these borders that divide South Asia from the neighboring realms

2. Why is Muslim Pakistan included in the South Asia Realm which includes many religions (Hinduism, Muslim, Buddhist) rather than in the North Africa and Southwest Asia Realm which is predominantly Muslim?

3. What and where are the tribal areas of Pakistan and what role do they have in the "War on Terror" and neighboring Afghanistan. Be sure to mention the Taliban.?

4. On a blank outline map OUTLINE AND LABEL the three physiographic regions of South Asia and briefly describe each physiographic region. Discuss the role of PLATE TECTONICS in creating these physiographic regions

5. Using the blank outline maps explain:
[This means DRAW on the map to help explain your answer.]

a Why the WET monsoons are wet?

b. Why the Thar desert and the state of Tamil Nadu on the southeast corner of India get LITTLE rain during the WET Monsoons?

c. Why the WET monsoons hit the Western Ghats first, the Ganges Delta second, and the upper Ganges valley latest?

d. Why the DRY monsoons are dry?

e. Why the Indian state of Tamil Nadu gets little rain during the WET monsoons and more rain during the DRY monsoons?

f. Use the following concepts and features in your answers and label them on the map when appropriate:

1) Arabian Peninsula
2) Arabian Sea
3) Himalayas
4) Sea of Bengal
5) Western Ghats
6) Tamil Nadu
7) Thar Desert
8) Ganges delta
9) upper Ganges valley
10) orographic rainfall
11) rainshadow effect

6. List and briefly explain the CENTRIFUGAL forces and the CENTRIPETAL forces found in India. Include:

 

  • Hindu majority and Muslim minority
  • Local rebellions
  • Linguistic diversity - 14 major languages
  • Religious minorities
  • Demands by some minorities for their own State
  • Flexible State boundaries based on locations of country's cultural groups (nations with their own languages)
    • Nagaland
    • Sikh dominated State of Punjab
  • lingua franca of English
  • Hindu's caste system
  • Hindutva or Hindu nationalism
  • Uniting power of Hinduism
  • Democratic institutions
  • Well developed communication and transportation systems (part of which is a legacy of colonialism)
  • Opposition to the British at independence
  • Education system
  • Strong leadership (Ghandi, Nehru, others)

ANSWERS

  • Hindu majority and Muslim minority G
  • Local rebellions G
  • Linguistic diversity G
  • Religious minorities G
  • Demands by some minorities for their own State G
  • Flexible State boundaries based on locations of country's cultural groups (nations with their own languages) T
    • Nagaland
    • Sikh dominated State of Punjab
  • lingua franca of English T
  • Hindu's caste system G
  • Hindutna or "Hinduness" or Hindu nationalism G
  • Uniting power of Hinduism T
  • Democratic institutions T
  • Well developed communication and transportation systems (part of which is a legacy of colonialism) T
  • Opposition to the British at independence T
  • Education system T
  • Strong leadership (Ghandi, Nehru, others) T

7. EXPLAIN whether you would describe South Asia as a

  • a MORE DEVELOPED realm (MDC), OR as
  • a LESS DEVELOPED realm (LDC) ?

8. For EACH stage of the Demographic Transition discuss:

a. the crude birth rate -- is it high? low? increasing? decreasing?
b. the crude death rate -- is it high? low? increasing? decreasing?
c. rate of natural increase (or the population growth rate) -- is it high? low? increasing? decreasing?

9. For each of the conflicts listed below (1) LOCATE it on the map, (2) discuss WHO IS FIGHTING WHOM, and (3) discuss the cultural, historical, and/or economic differences that contribute to the conflict

a. Kashmir and Jammu

b. Sri Lanka

10. Of the twelve world realms, how does South Asia rank economically? Why are they so poor?

11. Know the major religions of the realm and where they are located.

12. Trace the effects of colonialism and the "partition".

13. Consider the following about Pakistan:

  • Pakistan is ruled by a military dictator who supports the United States and NATO in the war in Afghanistan but who has little support from the people of Pakistan
  • Afghanistan and Pakistan are Islamic Republics
  • the government has little control over the "tribal areas" that border Afghanistan
  • Islamic revivalism has been active in Pakistan especially along the Afghanistan border

 

  • Pakistan has nuclear weapons

 14. Understand the conflict in Kashmir

15. How has a country of 14 major languages and several major religions endured? How has India used the borders of its internal states to promote stability?

16. Know the following about Bangladesh

  • political history
  • religion
  • economy

17. Discuss the conflict in Sri Lanka (insurgent state).

Chapter 9 - East Asia

1. Why it might make sense to discuss China, Mongolia, and North Korea separately from Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea?  Contrast them economically, politically, historically, and physically.

2. On the map of "the Chinese realm" below locate the PHYSICAL BARRIERS that define the realm 

3. China is often called a "Land of Contradictions" . Each of these "contradictions" has a "spatial component". This means you can locate the opposing characteristics on a map. Locate each of the contradictions listed below on the maps . This means label WHERE on the map you would tend to find the characteristic. You may want to BRIEFLY describe what the contradiction and their locations mean. (Several maps are included to avoid cluttering.)

1. Authoritarian Government / Opening of the Economy
2. Inward-Looking History / Outward-Looking Future
3. Rural Interior / Urbanizing Coast
4. Wheat Growing / Rice Growing
5. Tillable Land / Non-Tillable Land

 

4. Compare the physical geography (climate), relative latitudinal location, and the size of China with that of the United States.

5. What and when were the "Opium Wars"? Briefly outline the comparatively short European colonial history of China.

6. Discuss the Chinese civil war of the twentieth century. Who were the Nationalists and Chang Kai-shek? Who were the Communists and Mao Zedong? What was "the long march"? Who won and when? Which force had to retreat to the island of Formosa (Taiwan)?

7. Communist China:

  • Great Leap Forward
  • Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
  • one child policy
  •  

8. What is the history and current status of Hong Kong? Macao?

9. The textbook says "China remains an empire" (p. 446). Discuss the role of the minorities in China. Compare the map of China's ethnolinguistic areas (figure 9-9, p. 447) with the map of world religions (figure 7-7, pp. 328-329 ). Where in China is Islam the religion of the majority?

10. What is "China proper"?

11. Briefly discuss Tibet (Xizang).

12. Briefly discuss the amazing economic gains along China's Pacific Rim including:

  • the change from communism to capitalism (market economy).
  • Special Economic Zones
  • regional state

 13. What and When was the Meiji Restoration in Japan?

14. Land bridge (p. 473)., Ainu.

15. Where is Japan's core area?

16. The Koreas

  • Regional complementarity between North and South Korea.
  • State capitalism in South Korea
  • the Korean War *1950-1953): who was fighting whom, when, and why? Result?
  • north Korea: a high-risk? Why? communism, nuclear capability, "axis of evil",
  • reunification?

17. What is Taiwan's current political status?

 

Chapter 10 - Southeast Asia

1. On an outline map LABEL the physical features along these borders that divide Southeast Asia from the neighboring realms

2. A state's (country's) physical shape - its territorial morphology - are among the factors that affect its cohesion and political viability.

Geographers have defined five categories of territorial morphology:
1. Elongated
2. Compact
3. Fragmented
4. Prorupt
5. Perforated

a. Be able to identify the territorial morphology type of maps of various countries

b. Discuss how the a state's physical shape - its territorial morphology - can affect its cohesion and political viability using examples from countries in Southeast Asia.

3. Why are the arithmetic population densities relatively low in Southeast Asia and very high in neighboring realms? As the textbook asks (p. 497) "why has Southeast Asia not been flooded by waves of immigration?

4. Know the colonial power of Southeast Asia.

5. What is "Indochina"? What has been the roles of India and China in Southeast Asia?

6. Where, when, and why was the Indochina war (Vietnam War, Domino theory)?

7. What was Kampuchea? (Have you seen the movie "The Killing Fields"?

8. How has its religious diversity, its protruded shape, and al-Qaeda affected Thailand's stability?

9. Burma / Myanmar: protruded shape, economically poor, military dictatorship, conflicts with the Shan and the Karen, Golden Triangle,

10. Malaysia: Mainland-island type of fragmented state, Islamic, "Mecca Corridor", devolutionary forces

11. Singapore: Chinese, entrepot, economically successful

12. Indonesia: importance of Jawa, Centripetal forces (300 ethnic groups, 250 languages, fragmented, mostly Islamic, Hindu on Bali,Islamic revivalism) world's largest Muslim population, 4th most populous country in the world, four major territorial components, Aceh problem, Papua in the Pacific Realm,

13. East Timor: independence from Indonesia in 2002, several small exclaves,

14. Philippines: half century of US rule, Moro Islamic insurgency